mr. cassidy: mr. president i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of calendar number p -- number 33, s. 665. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 33, s. 665 a bill to encourage enhance and integrate blue alert plans, and so forth and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection. the senate will proceed to the measure. mr. cassidy: i ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time and the senate proceed to vote on passage. the presiding officer: without objection. if there is no further debate, all those in favor say aye. all those opposed say no. the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill is passed. mr. cassidy: i ask unanimous consent the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cassidy: i ask unanimous consent that the armed services committee be discharged from further consid

mr. cassidy and senator cochran. senator mikulski, senator schatz senator baldwin and senator merkley. senator lankford: i thank you for being here and thanks for the engagement on this. let me go through a couple of questions. there is a lot of conversation about the process. that's not a new conversation. in your testimony you even note that starting in 2009, there is a 1,300% increase in medicare and the auditing and what is happening in the appeals process. there is a problem that has happened. while you are accelerating the appeals process i would like to get down to the root causes. what is pending right now to continue to reform the process in the days ahead beyond the appeals process, which we can talk about separately. secretary burwell: i think it's important to step back what was put in place and work on program integrity issues in terms of medicare spending. this is something dr. coburn and others helped us focus on and this was put in place so we could track. it has tracked many and returned quite a bit of money in terms of what goes back in the trust fund. there were nega

cassidy you've identified an excellent point here -- >> mr. secretary -- ma'am, this is a an important issue for hep c because we're putting our doctors in the position of making decisions about somebody's life or death, whether they go to community care or our care but this is an important issue for the committee in general because once we decided the choice program, we're allowing the veteran to choose where they go. i don't have the ability to move money from va care to choice care or from choice care to va care, yet we've introduced the invisible hand of adam smith allowing the veteran to choose, and i don't have the ability to move money to care for them. my biggest nightmare is that somebody goes for care and i have money in the wrong pocket. you wouldn't run a business this way. >> well, can you help us -- >> yes, ma'am, i'd love to. i'd love to. >> i would like for you to communicate with the chair and the ranking member who will then work with the leadership -- >> we have talked with both of them, and they're both supportive. >> i thi

mr. cornyn: i ask consent that senators sullivan, cassidy wicker klobuchar each be recognized to speak for one minute. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. sullivan: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. mr. sullivan: i rise in support of amendment 279 theman act -- the mann act cooperation amendment. this is a simple amendment with strong bipartisan support. i appreciate the cosponsors senators murkowski ayotte, heitkamp gillibrand, and what this amendment will do is increase prosecutions of human trafficking without an increase of costs to the government --. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. mr. sullivan: it allows and encourages federal prosecutors to work with state officials to prosecute mann act violations and increases transparency. the key goal of this amendment is to enable the resources and cooperation between state and federal prosecutors to ensure all cases of human trafficking are pursued and victims have justice. i encourage my colleagues to support this amendment. a senator: mr. president? the presidin

mr. cassidy: may i ask that the quorum call be vitiated, please. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cassidy: five years ago five americans were lost when the deep water here horizon exploded on the gulf coast. i'd like to name these. before i start -- mr. president, this is hard. these were just people we grew up with. so i apologize for being emotional, but these are our neighbors. so to remember them, jason around 35, midfield, texas. jason had two kids, his wife was shelly. thanksgiving was his favorite holiday. aaron dale bubba berquine of philadelphia mississippi. he passed on his wedding anniversary and four days before his birthday. bubba was married with two kids. donald clark, 49 of newellton louisiana. his wife was sheila, he had four kids. he was a fisherman. to honor him on the anniversary of his death the family says a prayer and releases balloons over a lake in his favorite color which was sky blue. steven ray curtis, 40, of georgetown louisiana steven was married and father to two teenagers. gordon jones of baton rouge. he

mr. cassidy: i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cassidy: mr. president i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the consideration of calendar number p -- number 33, s. 665. the presiding officer: without objection. the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 33, s. 665 a bill to encourage enhance and integrate blue alert plans, and so forth and for other